squirrels with dirty faces

 

2nd November

With the sun becoming a rarity these days a little glimpse is enough to send me scurrying to Warriston with a camera. The winter bird count is slowly growing. But there are always plenty squirrels, crows and magpies to talk to, if nothing much else. The man-with-the-pipe said there were sparrowhawks about but I haven't seen any. And failed to find any on this trip.

I entered via the Powderhall bridge climb down and wall step-over. Almost immediately I got to photographing and video-ing a squirrel which I coaxed with bread and seeds. While I was standing quietly doing that I noticed a rat about 25 yards away which hadn't seen me and was busily rooting about looking for edibles under the autumnal leaf litter. The video was better than the stills. I posted it on facebook - this blog seems not to be able to cope with large video files unless linked from elsewhere. I have a few long overdue video projects to finish and publish so maybe the short dark days of Winter will see some of this sorted out. 

There seem to be quite a few rats about Warriston. (More in the overgrown areas near the riverside.) Since they are among the most shy residents and hardest to get photos of, I regard them as high tariff subjects and always enjoy seeing them. If you make a sudden move they will bounce off quickly like mini kangaroos. As long as they aren't in my house I think of them as part of the wildlife and really very cute.

trying to sneak around without being seen

no rat - just Autumn leaves

The Autumn colours are fine but not particularly spectacular this year so far. I've heard it said it takes a hard frost to really make the leaves turn more vibrant colours and I wonder is this - our climate-change warmer ambient temps - the reason we haven't had more impressive colours in the trees so far?

The little hitler robin says he doesn't mind if it hasn't been that frosty. I put bread and seeds out on the brick towers in the secret garden and there isn't much in the way of immediate uptake. Hitler Robin must be off elsewhere, terrorising smaller birds in other parts. Then he appears and begins chasing the coal tits off his territory. The great tits ignore his posturing and I saw one get into a mid-air fight with him rather than back down. It was over in a second and there were no apparent injuries. Well, maybe pride.

coal tit

great tit

The coal tits are amazing. I am continually in admiration of something so small that can endure a harsh Winter outdoors. It is hard to believe a life-force can be crammed into these miraculously tiny birds who operate faster than my eyes. I see them approach the tables knowing they are about to drop out the ivy and onto the food bricks. I point my camera at the very spot and wait for them to land. They don't hang about knowing the robin will fly at them as soon as they land. Sometimes they land, take a seed, turn around and fly off before I can push the shutter release. How do they do that? Only about 1 in 5 or 6 of the photos are sharp enough and not full of movement blur. Most have blurry wings or an in-flight blur leaving the frame. There is not enough light for faster shutter speeds on duller days.

There are a pair of them who seem to work in tandem, one pretending to visit the food but just inciting the robin to chase it into the ivy while the other dives onto the bricks, takes a beakful and retreats to their nearby nest. There is nobody for them to complain to about the unfairness of being bullied, so they have just invented this workaround and it seems to work well. 

Similarly, as soon as I leave the area, the wood pigeons and magpies move in and hoover up all remaining foodstuffs. Returning 30mins later there is never so much as a crumb left. The large birds generally avoid landing while I am there, although occasionally if I am very still a pigeon will arrive and sometimes plop down onto the tables. But generally they seem to have a larger minimum distance they require between food and potential predator, than the small birds. 

orange ladybird

Every now and then when there are fewer birds over on the North side I remember to look for ladybirds. They tend to prefer the more elaborately carved headstones. Often ones with more ornate Celtic crosses. The tiny insects are much harder to spot than you think they'd be. And my eyes are rubbish for close up stuff unless I take my reading glasses, which I don't. I know there are far more than I ever find as fellow photographer Alan finds loads of interesting creatures including shieldbugs, spiders and a variety of ladybirds on the stones. I get bored after a dozen stone inspections and return to looking up the trees. 

I have taken to putting bread on the prominent headstones and then taking pics of the crows and magpies as they follow me round the cemetery. The crows seem the more intelligent and will keep a close eye on a potential foodsource (me), as they fly from tree to gravestone, but always at a safe distance. 

greedy magpie

The LTTs all but escaped without a photo today, cute wee bastards!

This pair of squirrels were more bold and fairly interested in a handout. They were't that keen about sitting in the bright light though. Female on the right, male on left and more wary.

I put some sunflower seeds on a low stone for the squirrels. They were slow to find them and meantime the crows moved in. Then a squirrel saw the seeds and the crows moved away. I was interested in the hierarchy; who is top dog: squirrel or crow? And how do they interact. Probably about equal was the conclusion. In this case the squirrel moved in and the crow flew off. However since that episode I saw a crow following a squirrel, while it was possibly burying nuts. It was having fun at the squirrel's expense and pecking its tail, and hopping right behind it - something I hadn't seen before. The squirrel was not amused and every now and then took a jump at the crow who fluttered just out of reach, before starting the game again. Although the crow might have been solely motivated by an easy find of buried nuts, it did seem to be enjoying a game, largely at the squirrel's expense. A cyclist pushing his bike disturbed the game (and my video of it) before it reached any conclusion. Fuming!

out of focus blackbird

Back to the secret garden but nothing more about than last time.

Interesting the way the robins and other birds puff up to insulate themselves in the cold weather. The same bird above and below within seconds, making quite a different shape.

show's over when the pigeon lands

This male squirrel in the secret garden wasn't sure whether I should be trusted or not. I was rattling the food bag to let it know there was a handout in return for posing for photos. It was both interested and cautious. I had to move super slowly not to scare it. When I got close I threw some food in an underhand parabola. I have mentioned the poor eyesight of squirrels before. Seeing the direction of my hand it looked directly upwards to see if the food bits were going straight up. D'oh! I managed to creep forward closer, to throw some bread crumbs near enough for it to find them. He sat for photos but the light was fading quickly. 

Now that the clocks have changed (I enjoyed the extra hour but it's a bad idea) it gets dark at nearly 4 o'clock which is just depressing. I am not looking forward to another long dark cold Winter but at least have a January holiday planned to look forward to.